How would you feel decorating your garden with smooth river or beach rocks? Sure those pretty pebbles look great in beaches, imagine how great they will look in your backyard!
Keep reading to know more about river rocks and how you can use them in the best way.
Table of Contents
Choosing the right decorative gravels for garden
If you’re trying to consider the best decorative colorful gravels for your project, a great place to start is an online store. However, it is good to walk into the nearest dealer to see the “flesh” that will help you consider which bulk river rocks are the best for your garden. You can choose the color and shades by just examining them. You can feel the quality of gravels and be confirmed of what you are buying.
While selecting decorative gravels for your garden, you must consider a few things;
Are you looking to cover the ground in a garden bed? Or, are you looking to cover an expensive area which will be walked on?
Or a driveway where cars will frequently get parked?
Decorative colorful gravels are generally recommended to decorate the driveway or parking lot. If it is under the pressure of heavy vehicles, the angular, sharper facets lock much better.
For walkway areas, rounded river rocks will be the better option. The soft edges of round gravels make it easy to walk on as it feels “feature” area. These round decorative pebbles add a great visual effect. You will get a good grip on your feet by these smaller pebbles and much comfortable to walk on.
- While selecting your gravels for an existing landscape design, please be confirmed of the other fixed materials; such as house bricks, render color, or others. Often cubic yards method is used to sell rocks in small quantities instead of cubic feet. Divide feet by three and convert the calculation in terms of yards.
- It’s a usual practice to dump delivered rocks near the street. So make sure you clear that area.
Your exciting landscape design will have great spark contrast litter color black, cream quartz, white, sashes grey, or Tenterfield pearl. Also, Nambucca river pebble can highly complement to multicolor palettes. Are you putting river rocks in a way that it plans in the existing landscape, or are you turning them into a feature?
Cost of river rock per ton
You must be wondering, how much does a ton of rock cost? You will be surprised to know it’s not as expensive as you thought!
Costs of bulk river rocks per ton varies from $100 to $800. If you want to buy a fewer amount of rocks, you should go with creek rocks. They are affordable as their price varies from 0.05 to 0.35 dollars per pound. Still exact estimate depends on the stone polishing color, size, and shape.
All the other elements like grass or wood in your yard will look better with bulk river rocks as it blends well. To prevent erosion, it is ideal to use creek rock and provide drainage to collect excess water.
It is very common to see River stones in and around the pool. Because they are large, and the cost per ton remains the same.
| Type of rocks | Cost factors | Pricing |
| Bull | Smaller rocks must be provided with extra edging | $4 per bag $37 per cubic yard $2.50 each 5-gallon bucket |
| Lava | Location and quantity | $75 each ton $75 – $110 each cubic yard $7 per bag |
| White | Depending on size, pallets can hold 30 – 60 bags | $500 – $1,200 per pallet $10 – $20 per bag |
| Granite | Decomposed granite is cheaper compared to the crushed ones | $1 – $4 per bag $50 – $70 per cubic yard |
| River Rock Gravel | $20 – $50 per ton/cubic yard is enough to fill with colored gravel | $40 – $45 per ton $4 – $8 per bag $30 – $35 per cubic yard |
| Decorative | Style and import location decides the cost | $40 – $500 per ton |
| River | Size, color, shape, and polishing of the stone decides the price | $0.05 – $0.35 per pound $100-$800 per ton |
| Large Boulders | Unique colors and shapes cost more | $100-$600 per ton |
| Crushed Stone, Rock, Shells | Various finishes add $20 – $50 each unit | $40 – $55 per cubic yard $50 – $65 per ton |
| Concrete/Polymer Steps | Size/style chooses the price | $100 – $130 each |
| Mexican Beach Pebble | Expensive type of rock | $20 – $30 per bag |
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Buying process of Landscaping Rocks in Small & Large Quantities
Rocks require no fertilizing, watering, or mowing. To remove any possible wedding, you just need to lay landscape cloth below rocks. Rocks fill in the space naturally within a formal garden.
It also comes in varieties colors from black and off-white, in 1-inch sizes to one-quarter-inch. The best place to get bulk river rocks at affordable rates is none other than HomeDepot.
The two things you need to know is the area for laying bulk river rocks, and the depth of rocks. If you are looking to cover a small area with rocks, such as a birdbath area, purchasing in bags is the best alternative.
Smaller quantities
1. Count the area in cubic feet measurement by multiplying depth and length with width. For instance, 1.5 cubic feet rocks will be enough to cover an area of 2 by 3 foot until 3 inches.
2. Division of cubic feet of rock by the bag size of rocks. For instance, you will require size bags the size of rocks into cubic feet, especially when you mean ten cubic feet.
3. The weight of 1 bag times the number of bags will give you the total weight of overall rocks(bulk small river rocks). We know that rocks don’t come in handy, and most of them are extremely heavy. You might have to take more trips if you carry them in a compact car.
Large Quantities
1. To get square footage, users need to multiply the width by the length. It helps determine Rock depth.
2. Calculate the area you need for 1 ton of rocks. Generally, it takes just a hundred square feet when rocks are laid two inches deep.
It is:
- 80 square feet for 3 inches deep
- 60 square feet for 6 inches deep
For instance, you need 4 inches deep layer of rocks in 200 square feet of area, and you just need to divide 200 by 60; until you reach 3.3 tons or around a figure of 4 tonnes.
3. Find a good landscaping rock dealer who is close to you. Delivery charges are estimated by the weight of the rocks and the traveling route length. Have a good talk with the delivery agent before you sign up for the deal. Also, don’t forget to wear a mask while unloading bulk river rocks if its in large amount.
Materials required
- Calculator
- Measuring tape
- Pencil
- Paper
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Landscaping Rock & Stone Pricing
You can choose bulk landscape rocks depending on the material, and you can expect it in between $40 and $800 per ton. Another popular landscape rocks are bulk flat river rocks. The cost of the stone comes after including the color, size, shape, and finishing.
As the amount of rocks increases, the rate will dropdown. So if you make a one time purchase and get it in bulk, you will save a lot of money.
Tips to using bulk river rocks efficiently
River rocks stones were initially meant for decoration. Hence they come in all patterns, shapes, sizes, and colors. Most demanding colors are off white, red, black, green, brown, and white.
River rocks are specially for decorating the gardens, but you can use them for different projects too. The following are some of the ideas where you can use river rocks.
Premises wall
Walls are one of the things where you can use bulk river rocks. You can build up a wall looking simple or complicated as your desire. A great way to build the wall is to stack the bulk river rocks to the height you want and then bind them using a motor. A great alternative to using river rocks for decorating the wall is to use them as a panel for an existing wall.
Just use cement to bind the rock panels. Also, you can arrange them in any design or pattern you want.
Fire panels
Making fire panels is a very practical and interesting use of river rocks. You can make a fire panel on your yard, or you can roast marshmallows on it. Whatever you desire, the river rock fire panel will make a beautiful addition to your yard. All you need is just proper instruction to make a fire panel, or you can go to a contractor who can get your job done.
Sidewalks
You can make a layer of bulk river rocks as sidewalks. It’s a great idea to decorate the driveway till your doorstep using these pretty river rocks. Just place the rocks correctly along the area and use the motor to bind them securely.
Columns
Making columns is another practical way to use bulk river rocks. River rocks come in various colors and patterns; you can use them as the outer layer of your premises’ columns. You just have to stack the rocks carefully as higher as you want and secure them with mortar.
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Commonly asked questions
How much will it cost to install landscape rock?
It usually takes 45 to 74 dollars per hour if you want to hire a professional landscaping contractor. It takes a lot of time to prepare the ground and install it. On average, it would take you two hours for one ton of stone. That will sum of two be 90 to 150 dollars in total, excluding delivery.
However, it can vary according to the terrain or stone sizes, which can be anywhere from $200 to $400.
How much will It cost to dig or Large cut-off Stones from Your Yard?
Once installed, the cost of digging or removing extra-large river rocks from your yard ranges starts from $50 to $200 per cubic yard. Most companies will charge according to working hours, between $40 and $150 per hour. Some people remove bulk river rocks for some functional or decorative reasons. It involves making a new room for storage or putting chairs in the yard so that people can enjoy the open space.
How much will it cost to get bulk river rocks near me?
Purchasing large river rocks bulk from a nearby broker can save you a lot of money because they will not charge for shipping at your location. In every season you can find large river rocks for sale in your neighborhood.
What is Cheaper for Buying Rocks?- Bulk or Bags?
It will always come at a lower price if you buy river rock in bulk. You can easily get it; it will be available in your home or your garden store.
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DIY or hire a professional?
It is a big decision of either doing it by yourself or going to a professional. Usually, it depends on what tools and equipment you must complete the task? For a small project like making a fire panel or cleaning a small yard, you can usually do it yourself.
Small equipment such as trolley or load carriers are generally available at everyone’s house. The cost of delivering the material at your doorstep would be 50 dollars to 150 dollars in large quantities. Additional, transportation charges and substantial installation amounts of rock is hard to pay.
It’s best if you hire a professional landscape contractor. He will ensure the expertise and safety of the installation.
Conclusion- WHY RIVER ROCKS?
There are many other options available for ground cover in a landscape; grass, wood chips, rubber chips, shrubs or bushes, etc. However, the bulk river rocks still is the perfect choice for decorating the garden. There are many reasons why bulk river rocks are beneficial for your landscape.
Zero maintenance: You do not need to do any special maintenance care for river rocks like any other elements present in your yard. Neither it needs water, nor it gets damaged by sunlight. Just once you have to fix them at their places, and then forget about it.
They last forever: Bulk river rocks are naturally very strong and hard to get damaged. Even after without any maintenance, the rocks will stay good and long. It is naturally immune to water damage and sun damage.
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